Parting Shots
by potidaea
Summary: Erica's last words were "I don't know you. At all." what were Callie's?
1. Chapter 1

When Erica Hahn left the orthopedic surgeon outside of the hospital with one last parting shot, she honestly didn't think it would be more than a blimp in the radar for the woman.

Callie Torres was _not_ in it for the long haul.

…Right?

_Wrong_.

The blonde was the reason for the other woman's current location: OR 3.

Erica Hahn was the reason Christina Yang thanked some higher power that she was home earlier that night, and definitely for the fact she works as a doctor; the usually unaffected woman had the shock of her life that night: Calliope Torres on the brink of unconsciousness, a note held loosely in her left hand, and a scalpel in the other, bleeding out.

Yang sat in the waiting room, staring at the note her friend had meant to leave the world with, her blood practically boiling. It read, _"Why didn't you believe me, Erica?"_

Her blood was officially boiling, and the chief was about to get the brunt of it.

"Yang—"

"I demand you to bring Dr. Hahn to this hospital right now."

"You're _demanding_ me?"

"Get Erica Hahn here right now, before I go out and find her myself, and trust me when I say you won't like the outcome."

After what felt like a lifetime, the cardiothoracic surgeon walked towards her student. The younger woman shook her head, trying to remove the images of her friend's bloodied forearms.

"Chief said you needed me, Yang?"

She let out a bitter laugh, "_Need _you? I don't need you."

"Excuse me? I could have you kicked out this program for that."

"So, what's the count now? In this hospital, as far as I know, it's only one doctor at this point."

"What are you talking about?"

She didn't respond verbally, grabbing the older woman's arm roughly, dragging her to the gallery, wanting her to see what she had.

The many interns any doctors who filled the room looked up, gasping as they saw whom Christina was man handling.

She practically threw her against the glass, snarling a "See what you did? Why didn't you believe her?"

Miranda Bailey looked up from her work to see Christina push the blonde woman against the glass. Her only response was a brief glare directed to the woman, having heard Callie's pleas for the doctors to stop their work, herself included.

"I didn't _do _anything, Yang!"

"Exactly. You did nothing." She let out a cynical laugh, "That isn't even the worst of it. What you see down there? That's practically as good as new compared to how she was when I found her."

"None of that is my fault, Dr. Yang, and I suggest you let go of me before you're banned from every decent medical program in the country."

She didn't let go, "You can't buy your way out of it this time."

The blonde yelled, "How many times do I have to say this _wasn't my fault_?"

"However many times you want, but it still won't be true."

"You're not Callie, so you have no clue what caused this!"

"No, I'm not Callie, and I may not know exactly what caused this, but I do have a general idea."

"Oh, really? And how do you know this?"

"Her note; 'Why didn't you believe me, Erica?'" The blonde was shell-shocked, "Six words have never done so much damage, _have they_?"

She thought back to her words earlier that night, 'I don't know you. At all.'

Callie used her own six words; six words with the intention of being her parting shot to the world.


	2. Chapter 2

The blonde was shaken from her reverie by Bailey's voice through the inter-com.

"Dr. Hahn." The cold, protective voice came into the room.

"Bailey."

"You are to stay in the gallery until this surgery finishes. No breaks, not one second tearing your eyes away from what you caused. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Everyone else, you don't need to see this. Yang and O'Malley, go speak to her parents. Except, you, Karev, by no means do you have to watch, just make sure she doesn't leave."

There was a collective, "Yes, ma'am."

The conversation ended, all but two filing out of the room.

Walking down the hallway, Christina and George heard the sounds of Callie's parents arguing with a nurse about seeing their daughter.

"Mr. and Mrs. Torres…"

The broke away from the argument to see who had called for them, "George, Christina."

"Hello."

"How is she?"

"She's still in surgery."

"George…what happened? All Chief Webber said was that she was brought to the hospital and needed surgery."

Just as he was about to speak, Yang pulled him into a nearby on-call room, excusing them for a moment.

"O'Malley! What_ the hel__l_ are you doing?"

"Telling them what happened."

"What happened? Oh, so you were going to tell them that _Erica fucking Hahn_ broke her heart? That she was with another woman?" She yelled in disbelief.

"Well, yeah."

"You're such an imbecile!"

"Excuse me?"

"First of all, she was _finally _ready to be with Hahn, but definitely not prepared to tell her family, and secondly, she does not want her parents to know what she did! If she had succeeded, fine, it wouldn't matter, but Callie doesn't, _under any circumstances_, want her parents to find out!"

"We're required to tell them. As doctors, we have to."

"As her friends?"

George stayed silent for a minute, and then speaking in finality, "I would never tell them if we had that choice."

"Exactly."

"We have to…"

They made their way back to the waiting room as slowly as possible, neither one wanting to betray their friend.

"Hello, again."

"Hello, now will you tell us what's going on with our daughter?"

There was a long pause.

"Well…?"

"She…she tried to…kill herself."

"I must say; ex-husband and roommate-slash-friend is a strange combination to send to tell us this. She said she had a best friend…Erica."

The odd couple spoke in unison, their faces hard, "She doesn't belong here."

"Her best friend?"

"I wouldn't call her that anymore."

The woman took note of the contempt in the normally kind man's voice, but decided to leave it alone, "Why, George? What would make Callie…?" She couldn't bring herself to say it.

Yang answered, knowing George would tell the flat-out truth, affectively outing Callie, "She got into a new relationship…her heart was broken."

"She never mentioned anything."

"Not many people knew…it was a new thing, but it was obvious that they loved each other."

The older man spoke, his voice stern. "Where is he?"

Clearly understanding the man's need to speak to the cause of his daughter's pain, she quickly spoke, "Callie wouldn't want you to, sir."

"Well, what _Callie_ wants at this point is questionable!"

"Mr. Torres, please."

"No! I want to speak to the person responsible! There is no excuse—"

The older woman placed a hand on her husband's arm, "Honey, please."

He stopped, looking at her, trying to find some kind of guidance.

"Why don't you two boys go get something to eat, and I'll talk to Christina…?"

"Okay."

Once they walked away, she spoke, "Christina, what happened to my baby?"

Noting the conflicted look on the younger woman's face, she spoke again, "You're a good friend to not tell me, but could you show me?"

"Mrs. Torres, that's not a good idea."

"Please, _mija_."

She closed her eyes, swallowing, "Follow me."

Yang guided the woman to the gallery, opening the door slowly.

She looked to her colleague, "Karev, get out of here, I'll come get you when you're needed."

Not looking away from the weak woman in the room below her, the blonde woman spoke, her voice breaking, "What do you want, Yang…to make me feel even worse? Oh, no, I've got it! Maybe for me to join her in her attempt?"

The younger doctor was completely flustered her, usually brass, mentor's broken response, so she answered with a quiet, "Callie's mom wanted to see her…h- how-how is she?"

She let out a self-deprecating, and bitter laugh, "She's certainly been better."

"God dammit, Hahn! What happened to 'I see leaves'? She was_ finally_ _ready_, and _you_ fucked it up!"

"I didn't mean it, Yang! I_ do _know her, but she wasn't supposed to side with Stevens!" She let out a sigh. "I just needed her there with me, _for _me."

Knowing that anything more would break the older woman, Yang walked over to the inter-com, "Bailey, how is she?"

The woman was about to answer, but the entire operating room went silent upon hearing the sobs of 'Attila the Hahn.'

Sloan was the first to re-gain his speech, "She'll be good as new, Erica. And, tell you what, maybe I'll give her a little something extra in her meds…make her forget McSteamy."

The light laugh she let out echoed throughout the gallery and operating room somehow made everyone feel lighter, like their friend was sure to pull through, all doubts removed from the thick and heavy air.

The gallery was silent, except for Erica's shaky breathing, and then Mrs. Torres spoke out in realization, "It was you."

The blonde woman flinched.

Knowing the broken woman was already beating herself up enough for a small army, Mrs. Torres walked over to where the woman resided, she too sat down, and placed a comforting arm around her shoulders, "Our girl will be fine. She's strong."

"Well, you kind of _have_ to be when you break bones for a living."

"Very true."

"Who is this McSteamy person?"

"Mark Sloan, the man who answered…I don't understand what the nicknames are for."

Mrs. Torres, taking note of the picture the woman held, and always looked back to when she tore her eyes away from her daughter, said, "When was this taken?"

She smiled, "Last week, we spent our day off hanging around my apartment, watching our favorite movies. I got my camera while she was watching 'Some Like It Hot.'"

The woman nodded, "She loves that last scene."

"I got her picture while she was waiting for the last line, like a little kid, might I add…It was too adorable not to."

The older woman smiled lightly, "So, tell me, how did you two start?"

She smiled, "Her and Sloan went to Joe's with me after a particularly rough surgery, and we've pretty much been best friends since, which is strange, because Callie and I don't really have a kind outlook on the human population."

The woman laughed, "And your relationship?"

"Addison mentioned something to Callie about how we looked like a couple, which freaked Cal out beyond belief, and then, one day after our shifts ended, she kissed me, then avoided me, well, it was a mutual avoidance." She smiled, "Then, eventually, we went on a date."

She laughed quietly, "That does sound like something Calliope would do." She said, referring to the minor, or major depending on whom you ask, freak out and the avoidance.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, dear."

"Why are you being so nice to me? That," She pointed to the woman's daughter, "is my fault."

"You're beating yourself up enough for every friend Callie has made and will make in her entire life, I am not going to be the one to add to that. I can only speak for myself, though. My husband will be a different story."

"Please, don't tell him…Callie wasn't ready for people to know…Addison, Sloan, and Yang were to only ones that knew."

Christina spoke up, "Actually, George, Izzie, Alex, Derek, and Meredith know, too."

Mrs. Torres was the one to speak first, "Christina, how do they know?"

She winced, though grateful it hadn't been Dr. Hahn that asked her, "Well, I told Meredith 'cause she's my person, George asked what we were talking about, and so, we told him. Meredith told Derek 'cause he's her boyfriend. George told Izzie 'cause he's, well, George. Izzie then told Alex because he's her…not-boyfriend…?"

"That's…interesting."

Erica looked to Mrs. Torres, "I wouldn't try to understand the inner-workings of their group. It's not worth the trouble; I doubt _they_ even understand it."

With a nod, she turned back to the glass, watching her daughter's colleagues stitch her arms back up.

Before they left the gallery the 'cardio god' placed a hand on the kind woman's arm, "Mrs. Torres?"

The woman looked back to her.

"Thank you so much."

"Don't mention it, _mija_, you helped me, too."

When Erica Hahn woke up in the hard hospital chair placed outside of the woman's room, it was the next day. She stood up as best her tired body could, turning around to look through the window. She was a doctor; she knew very well that she couldn't enter the room.

Callie's doctor placed a hand on her shoulder, "Dr. Hahn, would you like to come in?"

She looked down, "I can't; it's against hospital policy…could you, uh, tell me how she is?"

"She's stable, as far as her physical state goes."

"And her mental state?"

The man didn't answer.

She nodded, not really needing an answer, "Did you give her some medication?"

"Yes, it will take a couple weeks to be fully affective, though."

"As most psychotherapy medication does."

There was a pregnant pause, and then, "Have a good day, Dr. Hahn."

He entered the room, affectively leaving the blonde surgeon alone.

The woman had sat there all day until the doctor in her made her go to the cafeteria to re-fuel, she ignored the many interns staring at her and her disheveled appearance. On her way back to her post, though, she heard a woman, only a few years younger than herself, yelling at the nurses' station, no one even listening to her.

"Ma'am…"

The woman's features softened at the doctor's words, finally having found someone to help her.

"How can I help you?"

"My cousin is here. No one would help me find her."

"What is her name?"

"Calliope—"

"Torres? Follow me. My name is Dr. Erica Hahn, by the way."

"Maria Torres…how is she?"

"Only thing I know is that she's physically stable, and is taking some medication."

"You're not her doctor?"

"No, I'm a friend."

"Oh, okay…Erica?"

"Why is everyone_ staring_?"

She sighed, catching sight of Meredith, "Grey!"

"Yes, Dr. Hahn?"

"Do whatever you have to, to give Dr. Torres, her family, and myself a little privacy. Understood, Dr. Grey?"

"Yes, Dr. Hahn. Tell Callie we hope she feels better, or I mean, whoever can tell her that."

"She'll appreciate that, Grey."

With a nod, Meredith went back to what she was doing, and they kept walking.

"What'd she mean when she corrected herself, when she said 'whoever can tell her that'?"

"I'm not allowed past the threshold of Callie's room."

"Why not?"

She took a deep breath, "That's what happens when your name is in the note."

They walked in silence to the room, Maria immediately yelling at her aunt in Spanish, a language Erica never had the time to learn; she only knew words that Callie had always said or called her, well, she knew a bit more than that; when Callie had enough alcohol in her, she only spoke in Spanish, with practice, Erica began to understand the rambling, even it was simply instinct, and knowing the orthopedist so well. Despite this, the only thing she understood in the entire fight was when Mrs. Torres yelled, "She belongs here!" It was the only phrase spoken in English, and Erica was pretty sure the woman did it on purpose, to reassure her that her presence outside of the room was wanted, and welcomed.

Soon thereafter, Maria, and Mrs. Torres, whose first name she had yet to learn, walked out of the room.

Mrs. Torres' gentle voice reached her ears, "Is there somewhere we can speak in private?"

I nodded, leading the two women to the nearest on-call room, locking the door behind them.

"How are you doing, Erica?"

"All due respect, Mrs. Torres, but why are you asking _me_ that? Of _all people_?"

Maria piped up at that, "Exactly! It's _her_ fault!"

"Maria! You know nothing of what happened!"

"No, she's right, it is my fault."

"Erica, _none of this_ is your fault."

"Yes, it is, if I didn't go off on Callie about defending Stevens, none of this would've happened. Callie would be fine, in another wing of the hospital, making grown men cry," She smiled softly at the memories she had of her lover-slash-best friend-slash-maybe-ex-lover's boasting, "it's what she prides herself on, you know."

The older woman nodded, smiling at the surgeon, "You didn't mean what you said to her; everyone says things they don't mean when they're angry." She said, shooting her niece a pointed look.

"I wasn't angry at her, though! She's my _best friend_ and I've practically killed her!" With those words, the usually composed woman started crying, gut wrenching sobs emanating from her body.

Maria looked on in shock as her aunt went forward to comfort the crying woman. She expected the blonde to get angry, yell at her, hit her…anything. She definitely wasn't expecting tears.

"Shh, _mija_. It'll be okay; our girl will be fine. Don't doctors always say it helps when the patient has something to live for? She does, Erica. And if she doesn't make it, I will bring her back from the dead, and kill her for not fighting for you. I barely know you, and you've grown on me, you're her best friend! You're _definitely_ stuck with her for life, and I highly doubt that's something you'd mind."

She leaned back to look the broken surgeon in the eye.

"You are family; whether it be as a friend, a girlfriend, a wife, a mother; that's up to you and Callie, but no matter what, you are _family_, Erica Hahn."

Erica hugged the woman again, broken out of it by the yell of the other woman.

"That's it? Just 'you're family'? She's the reason Callie's here! And '_girlfriend_'? _Since when_ is Callie gay?"

The older woman smiled softly, "I believe the term is bisexual."

The woman scoffed in disbelief, "_Does it matter_? Who else knows?"

"Maria, don't you dare tell anyone else in the family. That is for Callie and Erica to decide, and them alone. So, you better get used to Erica being around," She smiled in spite of her anger, "I get the feeling she'll be around for a long time…Now, Erica, is there anything you'd like me to tell Callie? I know you're not supposed to speak to her directly, but no one said anything about having a messenger."

She pulled an envelope out of her coat pocket, removing the picture she kept as a reminder of the happy woman the brunette had been one short week ago. "Could you give this to her for me?"

"Of course, sweetie."

That night, as Erica rested, Callie read the letter, making sure she closed the blinds and doors, not wanting Erica to be forcibly removed from the place she was well aware that she held outside of her doorway.

_'Dear Callie,_

_I have yet to speak to you since our fight, but the doctors tell me that you're stable, they won't tell me much otherwise. I now have a much higher respect for the families of our patients. Seriously, Psych doctors are assholes. Your Mom is really amazing, she, surprisingly, hasn't murdered me…your Dad, on the other hand, I have yet to speak to. Your Mom actually figured out who I was, or, rather, who I hope I still am. You know, how you told me about the Seattle Grace gossip mill? Yeah, it sucks. My interns no longer fear me. It's screwing with my job, not to mention, my sanity. Oh, and did I mention that Yang manhandled me? On one hand, I want to kill her for it, but on the other, I want to…hug her, or something, for protecting you like that. Yang and I may have a mutual understanding now…maybe, just maybe, she'll be able to scrub in on more of my surgeries._

_There are a few reasons I wrote this letter, it's a multi-tasker, if you will._

_Reason #1: I miss you with everything in me._

_Reason #2: I am so sorry, and I want you to know that I didn't, by any means, mean what I said to you…I was just mad, and I needed you there with me…and for future reference, to shut me up, there's two things you, as Callie Torres (no one else may do these things), can do; kiss me, or hug the life out of me. Either one is fine. All I needed was you, and all I still need is you._

_Reason #3: I was hoping that maybe this would make you smile, just a little bit. Your family, friends, and myself miss your beautiful smile dearly. Maybe not your full smile right now, but even half of that would do; the hospital is simply dark without it._

_And Reason #4 is pretty simple, and obvious, or, at least, it is to me…I love you, Calliope Iphegenia Torres._

_Yours (and only yours),_

_Erica'_

By the time she finished the letter, the Latina was crying, a smile plastered on her face…Erica Hahn loves her. _Love_. Erica Hahn didn't do love. _Ever_. She barely did friendship. Erica Hahn, world-renowned heart surgeon, was her's, and her's alone.

Her mother looked over to her, concerned, "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Mom, absolutely nothing."

"Good news?"

"Great news!"

"Want me to go get her?"

"She's not allowed in, but if I _magically_ made it down to the cafeteria, and she just_ happened_ to be there…"

The woman smiled, "Who's hungry? I'm simply_ famished_!"

The two women made their way to the cafeteria, seating themselves by a window, were soon joined by a half-awake doctor...thank god she's on leave, or else she'd be a bit of a liability. Falling asleep during heart surgery? Not so good.

The brunette didn't look up to see her friend, knowing she was there, just too wrapped up in actual food to acknowledge the woman's presence…her mother was kind enough to buy her something solid instead of the pudding she'd been forced to eat.

Honestly, could a plastic knife even break skin?

She wasn't going to try anyway, I mean, she's a doctor and couldn't kill herself!

But, then again, she'd always had the instinct to save lives; that probably included her own, no matter how horrible she felt.

Swallowing, not looking up, she said, "Are you gonna sit, or do you prefer standing?"

As Mrs. Torres excused herself, the blonde sat down, "Hey."

"Hey, how're you?"

"How am I? What about you?"

"My arms hurt, but I'm pretty happy for a psych patient."

She laughed, shaking her head, "Only you, Cal, _only you_."

"Are you insulting me, Dr. Hahn?"

"Insulting? No way in hell…you're too perfect."

"Perfect? Erica, you should go see a doctor. There's plenty around; take your pick."

"No, you are. And so what, you probably have some form of depression that can be treated with therapy and some meds? Name one person in this hospital who hasn't been in the same situation before."

"_You_."

"And that's where you went wrong." The woman was shocked as the heart surgeon rolled up her sleeves, up to her biceps, extending her arms. "In middle school, up to the very end of my senior year in high school, I cut. I was smart about it, no one ever looks there," She pointed to the crease in her arm where it would bend. "You can't really see the scars, they've mostly faded, only one, on each arm, is still there. I tried once…I cut just short of fatal, one millimeter further up my arm, and you might've never met me."

"_Mija_…"

She let out a light laugh, "The worst part was…when they hospitalized me, my parents had to be there, or else they wouldn't have been able to help me, not having consent and all."

The brunette gasped, knowing that it clearly had only made things worse.

She forced a light smile to grace her features, "Anyway, enough about me."

"Erica…"

"No, Callie, it's fine."

"Erica. Look at me."

"I said it's fine, Callie."

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, "Okay, now, about that letter…"

"You read it?"

"Yeah," She smiled, "it did its job."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah…now, I'm not promising anything right now, but in time, I have a feeling we'll be back to where we were, only less dramatic."

All the blonde could do was smile, her full smile; the one that only Callie ever saw.

"Now what's this I hear about Yang pushing you?"

The blonde woman pouted, "She did it in front of all of my residents and interns!"

"Seriously?"

Still pouting, "Yeah."

"Aw, Er, I'll kick her ass for you."

"Yeah?"

"Of course, what are girlfr—er, _best __friends_—for?"

They were definitely not going to be good at this friend thing.

At this realization, both of them burst out laughing, then, at the same time, "I don't think we can do 'friends.'"

Both women looked up as another voice said, "You two definitely can't do friends…you passed the point of no return, like, three bases ago."

"Addy!"

"Hey, Cal."

"Are you back at Seattle Grace officially?"

"No, Mark called me, and I figured you'd both need a friend…you weren't in your room, and Erica isn't Sloan, so no on-call-room-checking, so I figured to check here."

"Hey! Isn't it a little risky calling the psych patient a whore?"

The redhead raised an eyebrow, "Isn't it a little risky meeting Erica Hahn in the cafeteria when you're not supposed to be speaking to her?"

"Isn't it a little risky to be speaking in third person in a room full of doctors when you're _already_ in the psych ward? It's kind of questionable behavior."

The three women laughed, soon to be joined by Mrs. Torres at their table.

"Why don't we head back upstairs?"

Callie and Erica looked down at their hands. They didn't want to leave just yet.

Addison smiled, "Tell you what, I'll talk to Richard…get him to bend the rules."

Eventually, the four women went upstairs, all of them entering the room.

Callie's doctor entered the room, "Dr. Hahn, I'm going to have to ask you to leave, I've tolerated your stay outside of the room, but this is unacceptable."

"I'm sure, Dr. Goldman, that if you checked you mail, you'd be aware that the Chief has given me permission to enter this room as I please."

"I just checked my mail, Doctor."

"I'm sure you have much better things to do than check your mail before every patient you see, unless things work a little different here than what I am accustom to. I assure you it is there, though."

"Dr. Hahn, I will call security if I have to."

"Feel free to lose your job, Dr. Goldman. By all means, call security."

As he began to dial the telephone that was placed on the table in Callie's room, Mr. Torres spoke, "I suggest you put that phone down, Dr. Goldman."

He ignored the man's words and continued dialing, stating who was in the room, and what room to come to. No more than two minutes later, a security guard, accompanied by Richard Webber was in the room.

Once the doctor saw who was at the door he spoke, "Sir, what can I do for you?"

"This kind young man," He gestured to the security guard, "alerted me that one of my doctors was being removed from this room, would you like to explain that to me?"

"She isn't permitted to be in here, as is the same for every other suicide patient, the person or persons who are the primary cause aren't allowed to have contact."

"I am aware of protocol, Doctor, and I am also aware of the cause of this incident. What I am not aware of is why you're removing Dr. Hahn from this room when I have permitted her access."

"I haven't received any confirmation of that."

"Straight from the source: I, Dr. Richard Webber, allow Dr. Erica Hahn access to the room of Dr. Calliope Torres and allow contact with her. Is that an acceptable confirmation, Doctor?"

"Yes, sir."

He looked towards Callie, and her visitors, smiling, "Have a good day." And then he left.

Shortly after the chief's departure, Dr. Goldman left, Mr. Torres spoke, "Erica, I don't think we've been formally introduced, I'm Calliope's father."

"Nice to meet you, sir. I'm Erica Hahn, Callie's…" She trailed off, not knowing the correct word.

Callie let out her next words quietly, but still characteristically strong, "Everything, Erica, you're my everything."

Erica smiled brightly, a hand placed on her lover's cheek.

Addison broke them out of their moment, "I swear to god! Why do the emotionally challenged have better relationships than I do?"

Erica laughed, "Because we need other emotionally challenged people to balance us out."

The older man interrupted their laughter, "Calliope, this is your girlfriend?"

Callie smiled, "Yeah, she is."

He looked to the blonde woman, "You love my daughter?"

She smiled, "Absolutely."

"What is it that you do?"

"I'm an attending here at Seattle Grace, Head of Cardio."

He gave her a long, hard look, "My daughter is a resident; you could lose your job."

She nodded, "I could, but her residency is almost up, and chief is pretty good about relationships, as long as they don't interfere with our work."

Breaking a long moment of silence, "I like this one, Calliope. She's…"

"Got balls, unlike George." She stated bluntly, finishing her father's sentence.

He laughed lightly, "Well, that's one way to put it, but yes, that's what I meant."

Erica let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

"Hey, Er?"

She looked to Callie, "Yeah?"

"I love you, too, Erica Hahn."

Erica smiled, stopping herself from leaning down and enveloping the girl in a hug, knowing it would hurt her if she did, instead, she settled for a hand placed lightly on the woman's shoulder as she gave her lover a soft, loving kiss.

They had a new six words; words that each surgeon looked forward to hearing every day for the rest of their lives.


End file.
